Texas Rangers Seek Criminal Evidence in Camp Mystic Flood Deaths

# What happened On July 4, 2025, flash flooding on the Guadalupe River overwhelmed Camp Mystic. Twenty-seven people connected to the camp — 25 girls and two counselors — died. The broader flood event caused 119 deaths in Kerr County.

# New criminal inquiry

# What the warrants target The warrants seek electronic records and data. Public reporting identifies the Eastland family as operators of Camp Mystic. The Texas Rangers' affidavits were prepared by investigator Brant C. Johnston, according to the reporting.

A state-led investigation found Camp Mystic did not have required written emergency plans or adequate evacuation measures at the time of the floods. Lawmakers had repeatedly failed for decades to pass flood protections for high-risk areas, a separate investigation by ProPublica and the Texas Tribune concluded.

# Legislative and administrative fallout A separate, legislative-commissioned probe led by Casey Garrett and Michael Massengale produced a 115-page report describing cascading failures: communication lapses between state and local authorities and weak guidance to counselors about how to evacuate safely during the flood.

# Civil litigation and families' response In February, families who lost daughters sued the Texas Department of State Health Services, alleging the agency wrongfully licensed the camp. Attorneys Paul Yetter and Richard Mithoff, who represent those families, said the search warrants move the process toward transparency and accountability. They said decisions by camp leadership before and during the flood may have been criminal and that they will continue seeking answers.

# Camp Mystic's operational decisions

# Wider context on flood risk and policy Reporting cited in the coverage notes a long-term failure by lawmakers over roughly 60 years to pass flood protections for the state's most flood-prone areas. That policy gap was part of the context that investigators and reporters say contributed to the scale of the Kerr County disaster.

# Where this stands now The warrants represent investigative steps by the Texas Rangers to collect evidence. As of the reporting, the warrants sought digital data but do not by themselves equate to criminal charges being filed. Multiple news outlets and aggregated reporting summarize the search warrants, the state probe's findings, civil lawsuits, and the camp's withdrawal of its license application.

# Why it matters Families and legal representatives view the investigative warrants as a concrete effort to determine whether actions or decisions by camp leadership rose to the level of criminal conduct. The investigation also intersects with broader scrutiny of licensing practices and state-level flood protection policy.